LEAK

Silence shadowed by the presence of a few angry dogs replaces the chaos and the clutter of the by lanes. The sodium vapour lamps stand witness to a man combing his hair one last time before he heads home for the night. The hiss of the idli steamers draws people, like moths, on a just-rained evening.

The series seeks to explore the spaces and people of the Old Bangalore neighbourhood, which gushes with a different hue after the clatter of commerce has hushed. The narrow lanes stage a drama of warmth, solitude and whiffs of creepiness. It is the actors in this mise-en-scène that have been tried to be portrayed.

‘Leak’ begun during a photographic workshop in March 2011 aimed at encouraging the participating artists to explore the ‘other-side’ of the city, mentored by German photographer Heidi Specker. The collaboration was supported by the Max Mueller Bhavan/ Goethe Institut, Bangalore and concluded as an exhibition at the end of the workshop. This project continued to include more locations and late-night portraits of people and to generally expand on the theme of capturing light as it ‘leaks’ through the night.

A new edit was made to include recent work with the help of curator Louise Clements and was shown at the India Habitat Centre as part of the Unbox Festival held at New Delhi in Feb 2012.